The rules from the state health department effectively ban all smokable hemp flower and increase licensing fees for businesses that sell popular hemp products.
DALLAS — Popular smokable hemp products are set to be effectively banned by the state of Texas at the end of March under new rules put in place by the Department of State Health Services, causing a ripple effect on the consumers who use them and the businesses that sell them.
The rules change how the THC content of smokable hemp flower is calculated — including other cannabinoids when measuring the threshold allowable by law. This means much of the flower smoked in joints or pipes will be off store shelves by the end of the month, according to the state law library.
The new rules also dramatically increase the annual licensing fees businesses that sell or make hemp products must pay — to $5,000 for stores that sell the product and $10,000 for manufacturers. Those amounts are lower than originally proposed, but still represent an increase over the existing fees in the hundreds of dollar range.
“Small business like ours, we’ll probably have to shut down,” said Shan Claudio, owner of Dallas Hemp Co. “They’re putting us out of business.”
He said flower represents about 10 percent of his inventory, but 30 to 40 percent of his sales. While some customers are stocking up now, the temporary sales high will come crashing down if the ban goes into effect as scheduled on March 31.
“It’s horrible,” he said. “It’s disheartening to say the least.”
Hemp and THC businesses have fought a roller coaster of regulations — declaring victory when Governor Greg Abbott vetoed a legislature-approved ban on the products they sell last summer. Now they’re contending with an administrative rule change, whose origin can be traced to an executive order the governor issued as he signed his veto.
Hundreds of THC and hemp fans and business owners packed a Department of State Health Services hearing on the new rules earlier this year — overwhelming a small number of people lobbying in favor of stricter regulations.
Among them, representatives from the group Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, which argued the existing status quo represents a “public health emergency.” The group called the finalized rules “a step in the right direction,” but still called for more regulation.
The hemp industry estimates its existing sales total more than $5 billion dollars and supports thousands of jobs.